Underneath the Layers

A while ago, my brother-in-law, Pierre, picked up a set of bedside tables that someone discarded in an old storage unit. These bedside tables had been painted at some point, and the old paint was chipping off. It really didn’t look very appealing at all. Nevertheless, Pierre decided to take it home, sand it down and possibly repaint it. What he discovered when he sanded down the tables was a complete and delightful surprise. The bedside tables were made of the most beautiful White Oak wood, and once sanded down, looked stunning. The wood was still in good condition, but hidden under layers of old paint. Once sanded down, all it needed was a coat of wood sealant to enhance its beauty.

For some reason the owners of this set of bedside tables did not see the value of the material the carpenter used to make these tables. Perhaps they needed it to be a specific colour to fit in with the décor of a room in their home, or maybe they did not fancy the original oak wood appearance of the furniture. In the end, it was abandoned and forgotten amongst a pile of junk.

As my sister told me this story, I realised that this was an excellent picture of what happens to us many times. In Genesis 1:27 we read, ‘So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’ How profound! God placed something of His likeness within our spirit at creation. Psalm 139:13-14 & 16-17 says, ‘You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it! … Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!’

There was nothing haphazard about the way in which God created us. He has precious thoughts about us and took time to carefully knit us together in our mother’s womb. He created us exactly the way He intended for us to be. But how often are we discontent with who we are. We see the flaws and weaknesses in ourselves, hate the person we see in the mirror, and try to ‘paint’ over everything by putting on a mask in order to be more presentable to ourselves, and hopefully to others.

Likewise, other people may not be satisfied with who we are, what we look like, or how we present ourselves, and may place unrealistic expectations upon us to be the person they feel comfortable with. This may have happened even in childhood where we had to perform or change in order to be accepted by a parent, teacher, or friend. And so, in order to avoid hurtful rejection, we allow others to ‘paint’ over our personhood that which they desire to see.

I have wondered why we find it so difficult to accept the fact that we are perfectly loved by the Father - exactly the way we are – flaws and all! The Lord showed me that I needed to allow Him to strip off all the false layers of paint that I have come to accept as part of my identity, layers that came by believing lies of the enemy or through fear of rejection by others. As I sit at His feet and fill my spirit with the truth of His Word, He will begin to resurface that which He originally intended me to be, and He will be glorified in and through me. The process may be painful and it will take time, but He is a patient and loving Carpenter who knows my true value and loves me unconditionally.

My niece just recently got married to the love of her life, and those old, abandoned bedside tables which have been beautifully restored by her dad, have a special place in the bedroom of the bride and groom in their little home. Song of Solomon 4:7 tells us how our Heavenly Bridegroom feels about us: “You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.” Let’s allow Him to restore and strip away all the layers which have hidden who He made us to be.